Halo ODST: We've Lost A Brother
by Sono KOJ
Summary: Loosely based on the "We Are ODST" advertisement.


Dimitri Tarkov never thought he'd get an opportunity to see the legendary Circle of Honor at the Orbital Drop Shock Troops Academy as it opened only to those who are to bury a fallen ODST, or their closest family in that event. This visit fell under the latter circumstance in his case. Dimitri only had a brief moment to take in the rock garden planted with small stone columns each crowned with a flame. One delicate flame lit to mark a grave of a fallen ODST given the Medal of Honor.

"We have lost a brother today," the military Chaplain said solemnly to the crowd of civilians and dress uniform ODST. Dimitri shook not just from the cold, "But we who remain on this Earth to grieve such a loss must hold on to our faith. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters…"

As the Chaplain recited the verse an ODST soldier marched to the coffin beside the grave and folded the flag draped across it. Dimitri noticed that on the end of the coffin, fashioned after the HEV pods the Helljumpers used in life, the words "Feet first into Heaven" was embedded into it. Dimitri returned to reality when the flag folder presented him the flag, and it took all he had to grasp it placing the folded cloth against his chest, all he had left of his younger brother.

The sergeant of the platoon barked the order to present arms, and the column of troops obliged presenting their MA5B assault rifles. The sergeant ordered them to fire beginning the twenty-one gun salute; Dimitri flinched with each shot. The eyes of the sergeant, one glazed over like a dead fish's, singled him out.

***

That same eye bored into the freshly bald Demetri as the Sergeant dissatisfied at their inspection paced back and forth before the assembled men shouting how worthless they were. He stood before them just as bald as well as clad in the plain black shirt and pants as the recruits, but he had ODST in bold upon his chest. He wore it like a badge compared to the boys assembled before him with only their names tiny upon their right breast.

The glazed eyed man stormed to Dimitri wrapping his hand around the youth's neck, "Tarkov! Thirty, now!"

***

Dimitri leapt into the pool of water, at first stunned by it being just above freezing. Then once he got used to it he swam as fast as he dared knowing that not only could he not touch the bottom of the muddy pool, but that this stood as the first of many obstacles in the course.

***

Dimitri crawled under the barbed wire his arms burning with lactic acid. The sounds of battle roared over them from unseen speakers. All he focused on was making it that next inch. The worst of this half-mile crawl had to be Glazed Eyed Sergeant fired some captured enemy weapon beside him and shouted between the bursts of plasma, "Do you want me to bring your mother home another flag? Do you want to die? Do you?! Faster! Go, go, go!"

After pushing his way through the rest of the mud, Dimitri climbed to the top of the tower that marked the end of the course; he held his breath before jumping off…

***

… the HEV pod shook violently as it fell through the lower stratosphere of the barren, battle scarred planet below it. Dimitri whispered his Hail Mary's as he looked out his window and watched as a pod exploded in violent flame from the Shade turret fire. His first jump would be one behind enemy lines, so anyone at his side divine or otherwise was a comfort he dared not take for granted.

Upon landfall the HUD of his visor manifested, and Dimitri wasted no time leaving the pod once the front popped out leaving him exposed. The rookie Helljumper rushed forward over the rocky plain firing his silenced M7 as he ran. What were they shooting at? Not even he could see clearly at this distance. All that he knew now was his training. Keep moving, return fire, short and controlled burst. No one ever one a war by dying for his cause, one wins by making the enemy die for theirs.

"Bogies at two o' clock!" the sprinting soldier heard over the built in earphones in his helmet picking up BattleChat. He didn't falter when a pair of Banshees shrieked across the dark sky strafing the rushing humans scoring a few hits in their pass.

"We're taking loses! Delta team down to seventy five percent, Alpha fifty percent!"

"Damn it! Someone take down those Banshees before they light us all up!"

The BC orders combined with the dying that cried for medics, plasma that sizzled as it barely missed him, and the shooting from the ODSTs combined to create a hideous symphony the likes of which nothing Dimitri has ever heard. He had truly jumped into hell.

Dimitri finally reached elevated rocks that gave him stable cover from Shade fire, just enough for him to catch his breath and reload. A handful of others either beat him there or brought up the rear, either way they had the same idea. Locked and loaded the gang of eight soldiers waited for the ninth, the sniper, to have the lead Brute in his sights.

"I got the shot on the Baby Kong, there's a lance formation down in the valley. They're waiting for us," he whispered on BC.

"Up and over," the CQC Sergeant ordered cooking a grenade. The others followed his lead tossing the frags and flashbangs over when the shot from the sniper rifle rang out. The group waited until the grenades went off before they slid down the slope right into a leaderless Covenant lance.

Dimitri let the bullets fly satisfied at the sight of alien blood. A sergeant led the assault paving a path with his shotgun, and the rest of the men picked their targets and fired until the last tango went down. The speed paid off and there was only one casualty for the attackers. A Grunt Major managed to let loose a stickie before it bit the dust taking one of the humans with it. Otherwise the group stood firm, regrouping to apply biofoam as needed.

Dimitri knelt down to examine some dead aliens. Ugly bastards all of them but that thought made him ponder what he must have looked like to them. No matter, considering all that they have done all he could think of doing was killing more of them. His adrenaline demanded it. He passed his first trial by fire.

With that firefight over, all seemed to be going their way until the Brute pack counter attacked. Two Minors, a Major, and a Captain armed with a brute shot descended from the cliffs above the Helljumpers, who were sitting out in the open perfectly exposed. Spikes from Spiker rifles and grenades ricocheted around Dimirtri as he cowered. A few ODST went down by the spikes, but those that could still shoot focused on the nearest Brute to them. One of the Minors charged an ODST gutting him with the bayonet of its Spiker before the sniper blasted a hole through its head. The sergeant managed to get off two shots at the Captain before the Brute Shot grenade ripped him in half.

The strike happened so fast, Dimitri didn't even have time to raise his weapon before the Major attacked him with the bayonet of its Spiker knocking him into a puddle of mud as well as his helmet off. The helmet fortunately took the brunt of the blow so he was only dazed for a moment. He rolled unto his back to face the beast roaring triumphantly over his prey, and desperately the human drew his sidearm and with frightened determination unloaded all he had at the Brute. However, the shots harmlessly bounced off the armor of his foe. Just as the alien readied its weapon for the kill an explosion rung overhead, and a Banshee crashed into the Brute splashing shrapnel all over the stunned Dimitri, but his armor held firm except his vulnerable face.

***

Dimitri, now called Beauty because of his face full of scars, after 5 years an ODST is long used to losing brothers in arms. Tearlessly he folded up the squad's flag and stuffed it under his armor to send home with the dead man when the time came. They say a year in the ODST aged someone 10 years; Dimitri with his rugged stubble agreed. A private stood next to Dimitri with his head bowed helmetless as were they all out of respect. Being the Sergeant, Dimitri placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, and the private placed his own over it.

Suddenly a distant explosion made them jump, then they heard the distant sound of a firefight. Dimitri quickly placed his helmet back on well as his squad mates. The group moved out faceless with their HUD's down. Dimitri was the keeper of their lives, and he'd be damned before he loses any more of his brothers.


End file.
